Woodstock Town Council passes two resolutions

By Kaley Toy

8:58 pm Tuesday, March 1, 2016

WOODSTOCK – The Woodstock Town Council held a meeting on Tuesday night with recommendations for two resolutions, one to support connecting the Woodstock and Edinburg water systems, and the other to appropriate funds to construct a downtown parking facility.

Stephen Heishman of the Water and Sewer Committee, recommended a resolution to support Edinburg’s application for Virginia Department of Health grant funds that will allow the towns of Woodstock and Edinburg to connect their water systems into the Woodstock-Edinburg-Shenandoah Waterworks Regionalization Project, to improve the reliability of both systems.

All on the council approved the recommendation and the resolution passed.

Heishman said, “Edinburg has had some issues in the last few years providing water to their customers and so we have decided to throw our support behind Edinburg as they apply for this grant.”

He added that this project wouldn’t take place for a few years, but the resolution gets the project going.

Edinburg has applied for a planning grant in the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water 2016 Planning Grant Cycle.

The resolution noted that Woodstock has provided water to Edinburg multiple times.

The other resolution was presented by A. Paje Cross, of the Tourism & Economic Development Committee, recommending that the council authorize the mayor to sign and execute the proposed downtown parking lot agreement.

The council has appropriated the funds to construct a parking facility behind buildings located on the east side of the 100 block of South Main Street.

The town has also negotiated a 30-year lease of property agreement with the current property owners where the facility will be built.

Town Manager Reid Wodicka said that 10 proposals for the project have been received. These proposals have been narrowed down to three by the selection committee, and interviews will be held next week.

On March 18, they will be accepting bids from banks for financing options.

Mayor Jeremy McCleary added, “It’s been a long time coming and been thought of and discussed for a long time.”

“I think this really meets a need and the public is really strongly behind. I’ve received so much positive feedback about it and I feel like this is something everybody agrees on and rallies around,” he said. “It’s great for our town and it’s great for our businesses and great for our community and great for visitors to our community.”

All council members approved the recommendation and the resolution was passed.